Pay rises for engineers but recruitment is tough

Average earnings for engineers and craftsmen rose by 5.7 per cent last year.

Research by Remuneration Economics of 11,000 engineers and more than 500 craftsmen in 110 organisations (including Rolls-Royce, Siemens and Thames Water) shows that earnings to July 2002 were £26,729 for engineers and £17,435 for craftsmen.

Nearly half the sample (45 per cent) had been paid a bonus – up from 37 per cent in 2001. But the average value of bonuses fell from £2,273 to £1,768 for engineers, and from £1,381 to £975 for craftsmen.
Just under one in five (19.6 per cent) are eligible to receive a company car.

Despite these generous pay increases, the survey suggests there are actually “increasing problems with recruitment and retention” in the sector.www.celre.co.uk